N. Ft. Myers Community Park DGC

I had a drawing gig at a Mardi Gras party for a yacht rendezvous out on Useppa Island off the coast of Ft. Myers, and I left early so that I could stop and try a few holes at the disc golf course in the N. Ft. Myers Community Park. After having a bit of a hard time finding the place (although it turns out to be real easy to get there, once you know where it is), I was able to make a mad dash through as much of the course as I could before I had to get to my gig down the road.

I couldn't find hole #1, so I started on #2. The tees are concrete, some if not all the holes have Am tees as well, and signage consists of dock pilings cut off at the top at a 45-degree angle, sporting basic information about the hole ahead. Most of the baskets could not be seen from the tees, and I soon came up behind a group that was kind enough to let me tag along with them.

Most of the course is fairly rough palmetto scrub, but there are plenty of pine trees and the like to contend with on the front nine. One of theses holes runs alongside a pond, so us RHBHers have to plan our throws accordingly. I failed to do this, however, and I lost a Spectra into the pond. However, the Spectras seem to float, and the group I was with also had about five dogs running with them, and one of the dogs (Archimedes) would go into the water and go after discs! Pretty cool.

I was throwing pretty well for trying to hurry through, and some of my throws seemed to impress the locals. The dogs would go off after any disc you'd throw, and I'd have to keep a close eye on where the disc lay in case one of the helpful dogs would go and retrieve it for you! I ended up losing the Spectra for good into the treacherous palmetto scrub, but I perservered through most of the back nine, which gets you out from under some of the close-in pine trees that make up a lot of the first part of the course... not that they don't come into play all along the way. I was, however, playing with a fair amount of accuracy, and rarely did I have to search long for a disc.

In some ways this course reminds me of the Port Charlotte course - very rough and carved from the local foliage - but it's what makes these courses unique and epitomizes the mantra of utilizing the lay of the land to create a new disc golf experience. It requires skill and accuracy to navigate, and there simply aren't any holes where you can really open up and drive.

I can recommend giving it a try, but I'm not sure it's worth a special trip. But try it if you're in the area. Why not?